I didn’t blog this at the time because I was busy with packing to leave for my mum’s, and I only finished it the day before I gave it away. It was the last gift I finished, and it was a bit rushed. So here it is, my Scandiwegian Star. I don’t even know how many gifts I finished in the end. 5? 6? Meh. I did some.

A fair isle star beanie with a pompom. I made it a bit longer than I should have.

Again I was using odds and sods, the black was Charly by Phildar, a cheap but nice acrylic, so was the electric blue. The purple was Robin Double Knit, left over from my Tabitha hat, and the other blue was a Hema cheap thing that I bought for some unknown reason. I love the way these colours work together, the black does seem a bit bold and I’d like to do something similar with a cream, or a white or pale background to see if that’ll bring the colours out more.

The fair isle pattern in progress.

It knitted up very quickly and I wanted to keep it. But then I wanted to keep all the presents I made this year, and I’ve queued them to make myself too.

I didn’t get many photos of me wearing it, but here’s a good shot of the hat with the pompom, pulled down over my face to show the length.

I didn’t really take the time to get brilliant photos of this hat, as it was very rushed and I just wanted to get it finished and get rid of it, but I did it. I made one more Christmas gift and bought a bit of happiness to one more person.

This lovely pattern is also free from Ravelry and can be found here. The projects are beautiful and I really want to make another one. I liked the chart, it was really easy to follow. I recommend having a flick through the projects, there’s some awesome stuff on there. And as always my notes are here.

So following the success of my first pair of socks I made two more. Socks that is, not pairs.
I’m figuring out my own exact size pattern, the cuff and foot length are perfect, but they’re a little baggy. I don’t want high top socks, but I found my Footlets were too low down. I also have a limited range of needles and not a lot of money. I’ve been working on a 3mm needle for a pattern on 2.5mm needles, and so far I think I’ve got it, or I’m close.

My mum’s pair are less baggy around the foot so I think I’ve found the right number or a better number of stitches.

Anyway, enjoy the photos of my socks. One is for me, the rainbow one, the other for my mum. Both yarns are by Regia, the pink one is Esprit Spray, 6€37 from Love Knitting, the other is Exotic Colour and costs 11€26, again from Love Knitting. I like them because they ship to Europe cheaply while still being UK based. My next order will probably be from them.

So now, sockky nonsense!

I will be making a twin to this sock, but my mum implied that she wanted a knitted pair, so that jumped to the top of the list and my pair got put on hold.

I really like knitting socks, turning the heel keeps me interested, and then afterwards they’re furfilling.

Here I was trying it on while in progress, I wanted it to be the right size, not too long so I did this a few times. I was really proud seeing it knit up too.

I made my second sock! No, I never finished my acrylic demo pair of booties, they were too small for Alexandros so I left it. But I did make a pair this time!

I used Sirdar Heart & Sole in shade Super Trooper which my mum bought me 200g (two balls) from Deramores for around £6 each in an offer. This is a 4ply sock yarn, made from 75% wool and 25% nylon in Turkey.

The pattern I used as a base was from a book called ‘knits for fab feet and cosy Toes’ by Anna Tillman. The pattern is on page 120 and is called footlets.

I actually used 3mm needles and made the smallest size to the right length of my feet. I also, deliberately, didn’t bother to match up the stripes.

The stripes are misaligned, I did it especially to make them more unique.

Which created some really nice photography I feel. But my plan is to make another two so I’ll have some mix and match pairs. I got this pair from around half a ball. I’m also planning on doing the pattern that came on the reverse of the ball band with the second ball.

And while I was knitting them I kept trying them on. It was a lot of fun.

I kept trying them on while I was knitting them, and they were a lot of fun to knit. I found socks the right level of challenging to stop me getting bored. Turning the heel was fun and fairly easy. Socks are actually very simple, if you can knit on double-pointed needles, pick up stitches and knit and purl two together, you can knit socks.

And wearing them? It was amazing, it was a cold day but I was wearing a miniskirt anyway. Normally I get cold feet, or cold legs. This time I didn’t! I could feel the stitches in my toes, but it was really comfortable like they were massaging my feet. It was so comfortable.

So this is one project from my yarn haul down, and I’ve almost finished Sandy’s reach for the stars jumper. Next I can move onto the yarn I brough back from my mum’s. Surprisingly, it’s more socks. She also wants two pairs.

Softness

Before washing this yarn was a bit hard. After a quick handwash they were lovely and soft.

Enjoyment of knitting with

Very high, not perfect, not one of the best, but it was very good to knit with

Washing

I like the fact these can pass on the tumble dryer on low, and in the machine. I just prefer hand washing if possible.

Price

Full price this costs £7.99, it’s a midrange price for a sock yarn, the cheaper ones are about £6, the more expensive upwards of £15. I feel for the price it is good value for money. I’ll see how they’re holding up in a few months before I make a final comment though.

Colour

There are some really good colours! I had a hard time choosing so went for the blue, green and gray of Super Trooper. However there are others I want to try too. The only thing that’s slightly disappointing is the two blues are almost the same shade.

Would use again

YES!! Just need to finish up my stash before I can buy more yarn. My next colour will probably be move to the groove.

Well, it’s not my first yarn haul, but it’s the first I’m blogging about. My mum got be an early birthday present because I’ve been a little bored, and she’s worried boredom leads to depression so she’s trying to keep me occupied. So for around £55 from Deramores she got this lot sent to France. I got really lucky, she ordered Monday and it was here on Saturday!

The Sirdar Heart and Sole is for socks because I’ve been having really cold feet, although that’s got better since I stopped my medication. Unwanted side effect from antidepressants? I don’t know. I’m still trying to choose a pattern.

The Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo is for a jumper for Sandy. I found this jumper with a rocket on it in Knit Now and I had to have one for my son. So I love Baby Bamboo, it has great stitch definition, and it’s so soft and I liked this pattern and that’s why I chose that yarn. I’ve already finished the front and back and now I’m working on the sleeves.

The Rico Creative cotton is for a hat to match my new coat. I broke my black biker jacket, it wasn’t leather so it was going to happen eventually. My new coat is black and red check and has no hood, I need to have a hat to protect from the rain but my purple one clashes. So I’ll make a new one.

Sirdar Heart and Sole and Rico Creative Cotton

Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo

Buttons!

I also got buttons, they’re for Sandy’s jumper really, but I couldn’t decide which were better. The red are the perfect shade, so I guess it will be those. We’ll see, buttons are always useful though.

And my double-pointed needles…

I only had 4mm, 4.5mm and 9mm double-pointed needles, meaning making socks wasn’t going to happen, now I have these!